A variety of planar substrates must be individually packaged to preserve cleanliness of the substrate. The most common such planar substrate is a self-adhesive bandage having opposed, adhesive-coated end portions and a sterile central pad portion. To preserve the sterility of the pad portion, such self-adhesive bandages are normally packaged in individual sealed "envelopes."
Although such envelopes satisfactorily maintain the sterility of the bandage, there are several problems with the use of such envelopes. Firstly, the envelopes are frequently difficult to open. The most commonly used envelope, for example, requires tearing open the envelope using an internally attached piece of thread. Manipulating this piece of thread can be frustratingly difficult, especially if wearing protective gloves. Moreover, occasionally the internal attachment of the thread breaks--wholly disabling the opening mechanism.
Secondly, once the envelope is opened, an additional problem is raised as to how to administer the bandage without soiling the sterile pad and without becoming entangled with the adhesive-coated ends. In almost all self-adhesive bandages on the market, the opposed adhesive-covered ends are protected with separate cover sheets. It can be exceedingly difficult to remove these cover sheets without contacting either the adhesive-covered ends or the sterile pad. The difficulty inherent in removing the protective sheets is magnified when the caregiver is wearing protective gloves. Typically, such gloves are made from a very thin material to which the adhesive on the bandage readily attaches. Accordingly, it can seem almost impossible to manipulate a simple self-adhesive bandage from package to patient by a caregiver wearing protective gloves.
Accordingly, there is a need for a package which eliminates the above-described problems with the prior art.